Fly-catching device.



(No Model.)

Patented Dec. H, |900. M. B. CHURCH.

FLY CATCHING DEVICE.

(Application led Feb. 17. 1900.)

UNITED STATES PATENT CEETUE.

MELVIN B. CHURCH, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

FLY-CATCHING DEVICE.

Y SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 663,728, datedDecember 11, 1900.

Application filed February 17. 1900. Serial No. 5.636. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom t rmty concern:

Be it known that I, MnLvIN B. CHURcH, a citizen ofthe United States,residing at Grand Rapids, Michigan, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Fly-Catching Devices, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in fly-catching devices of thatclass in which a surface, such as a string or the like, is coated withsticky material to which the flies become attached.

In the use of sticky fly-catching material the great disadvantages are,first, that the paper or strings when exposed in parlor or drawing-roomor similar places present an unsightly appearance, especially after theyhave become more or less coated with liies, and, secondly,the catchingdevices, being necessarily located in exposed positions,are liable to bestruck against by the clothing of persons moving around in the room andcause great annoyance by reason of theadhesive power of the stickymaterial.

It is the object, therefore, of the present invention to provide adevice which shall be free from the above objections and which shallpresent an ornamental appearance.

I have illustrated the invention in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure l is a side elevation, partly broken away; and Fig. 2 is an endview of the same,

while Fig. 3 is a detail view of a modification.

Referring'by letter to the said figures, A represents a tube, which Iprefer to make telescoping in order that it may occupy less space forshipping purposes. This tube I prefer to make of craps-paper, and Iprovide it with a plurality of holes o., which are sucient in size topermit the flies to pass readily through into the interior of the tube,while their number is sufficient to make the interior light enough sothat the flies will not be repelled by the dark. The ends of the tubesare preferably partly closed,as indicated at ct. Through the center ofthe tube I pass a suitable surface B, coated with a sticky iiy-catchingmaterial, said surface having its ends supported at opposite ends of thetube. The catchingsurface B may be a string coated with the stickymaterial or ribbon, such as ordinarily used, or any suitable equivalent.The device as thus formed maybe suspended in any part of a room and noharm is caused by coming in experiment that the ies will be caught justas rapidly by my improved device as by an exposed string or ribbon,while the unsightly string of liies is thus concealed from view.

Instead of making plain openings in the walls of the tube or cylinder Imay cut angular slits, as shown in Fig. 3, and turn the tongue thusformed to one side, thus forming a sort of guide to direct the fliestoward the interior of the tube.

It will be seen that the shield may be used indefinitely, for as soon asone string has been used up it may be removed and another inserted.Further, if desired, several strings may be inserted at once if the sizeofthe tube is sufficient to render this course desirable.

To suspend a string in the shield and to drop it in from the top, I usea weight on its lower end. This serves to guide it through and into theopening in the bottom of the shield and to hold it therein. This weightalso prevents the string from coming in contact with the sides of theshield.

I provide catches or hooks projecting into or over the opening at thetop of the shield from which to suspend one or more strings or ribbons,as desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isl. A fly-catchingdevice comprising a shield having fly passages in the walls thereof, anda catching-surfaceconsisting of ribbon or string coated with stickymaterial and stretched between the ends of said shield whereby the saidshield protects the sticky material and admits the flies thereto,substantially as described.

2. A iiy-catching device comprising a collapsible shield havingfly-passagesin the walls thereof, and a catching-surface consisting ofribbon or string coated with sticky material and stretched between theends of said shield MELVIN B. CHURCH.

Viitnesses:4

M. CLAY CHURCH, CLIFFORD C. CHURCH.

IOO

